Reality

Annabeth's POV

A blinding white light shined in my face. I shielded my eyes with my arms. The light dimmed slightly and I could see people sitting down in front of me. I was standing on a large wooden stage, a black microphone perched on a stand a foot in front of me.

I looked down at myself; I was dressed in a blue and yellow striped dress. It fell to my knees and had five inch long sleeves. My hair was in a soggy braid and my aching feet were covered in my satin yellow shoes for prom.

I looked up at the people sitting below me and realized they were at a small desk. Neat papers stacked in front of them along with perfectly aligned pens and small glasses of water. The ice clinked around and I noticed that I was extremely thirsty. I swallowed and my throat burned.

The people sitting looked very proper. A young man with brown hair and a navy suit sat in the leftmost chair, an older woman with frizzy blonde hair in the middle and on the other side was a middle-aged man with grey hair and a neatly trimmed beard. I saw the older man say something but I couldn't hear. I only saw his chapped lips mouth something I couldn't make out.

"Huh?" I croaked. A now-known audience behind the three people erupted with laughter. I felt my face burn. The man cleared his throat, "I said, wake up, Annabeth." I was confused, what did he mean? "I-I'm sorry," I apologized, "But I don't understand what you want me to do."

The man just smiled, this time, the woman spoke up, "All you have to do is wake up." she instructed. I closed my eyes. Wake up, wake up, wake up. I repeated in my mind. Soon the 'wake ups' became louder. My voice became more and more real until I was laying in a hospital bed murmuring, wake up.

Rachel's POV

I remembered the feeling of victory as I held the gun at Annabeth's face. Power overcame me and I felt as if I could do anything in the world and no one could stop me. I remember saying to her, "Any last words?", and pulling the trigger. But that's when it went downhill. It was supposed to be her feeling the pain of the bullet, not me.

Annabeth's POV

I was now well aware of my surroundings, itchy hospital sheets, white walls, stiff pillow, sore throat, curtain surrounding my bed. I rubbed my eyes and immediately felt the pain of unhealed scrapes and cuts on my arms. The deeper ones were wrapped up in a white bandage and a little bit of blood had started to seep through the center.

A tall glass of water was perched on the edge of my little table that sat next to me. Dew spread over the bottom half of the glass where the water and ice cubes were. I didn't see anyone near me. I sat up and my head throbbed with pain.

I took deep breaths and the pain subsided a bit. I reached for the glass and wrapped my hand around it. It was cold to the touch and the dew made it slippery. I tried to pick it up, but who knew water could be so heavy? The dew wasn't helping either.

The curtains surrounding my bed flew open. I drew my hand back to my side. A short nurse with olive skin and black hair that was pulled tightly into a bun stood in front of me. She grinned, revealing shiny white teeth. "I see you're awake." she told me and walked over.

She grasped the cup and held the red straw that I was now aware of and put it in front of my face. I took a long drink and then nestled back into the bed. "You have a couple of visitors." she notified me, "You won't be able to see them for another hour, I'm afraid because we need to do some testing."

This was all coming way too fast for me. I didn't even know what happened. Just as I thought that, all the memories of the previous night, or was it two nights, came flooding back to me, the date, the ladder, Rachel with a gun, falling out the window, the shooting.

Was I shot? No. She was aiming for my face and my face feels fine. Or did she shoot me somewhere else because of bad aim? I didn't feel anything wrong. Oh, but there are numbing pills and antibiotics. "Excuse me?" I asked the nurse. She looked at me with round brown eyes. "Was I shot?" I asked.

She gave me a weary smile and took a deep breath. "No." she said, "You were not shot, your friend Rachel, not so lucky." My mind raced. What? "What happened?" I inquired. Rachel was most certainly not my friend but I still would feel a little sorry for her if she did get shot.

"Well," The nurse started, "Rachel was aiming for you but the gun backfired and shot her in the head. She wasn't very lucky and, well, she's dead." I gasped, dead? I could believe shot in the thigh or, lost an arm, but dead? I was astounded.

"I'm very sorry." The nurse stated, "Was she close?" I just shook my head, it was actually relieving to have Rachel dead, as insane as it sounds. Its nice knowing there isn't a girl running around the neighborhood trying to kill you.

"I'll have to send some doctors and nurses in for some tests." the nurse said, "It shouldn't take long." All I could tell you is that that was an understatement. During the tests, I was telling the story about what happened the night before. A sum of the tests were poking my cuts and bruises, taking blood, knocking on my head, and asking repeatedly, "Does this hurt?"

If I hear that phrase one more time, I'll shoot myself. Wait, never mind, that would probably lead to more tests.

After a million tests, they allowed visitors to come in. First, my dad, step mom, Bobby, and Matthew entered. My parents asked how I was feeling and told me how bad they felt about not coming in my room when they heard unusual noises. I brushed it off. I was currently more aggravated about my brothers playing with my bed, making me lay and sit over and over.

After they left, Thalia came in. She punched me in the shoulder and asked how I was feeling. I told her the story about what happened and she listened and didn't interrupt once, unlike the doctors did. We chatted a bit about the ugly hospital dresses and about how they should make them more stylish. Thalia suggested bedazzling them. "It wouldn't be my fashion choice," she explained, "But it's better than what they have now.

Once Thalia left, Percy walked in. I was glad that my heart skipping beats didn't show up on the monitor I was hooked up to. I went through the story and how I was feeling routine before we talked.

"I can't believe Rachel went that far." Percy was saying, "I knew she wanted me back, but did she really expect me to take her back after she killed you? Sure, she wouldn't have told me she killed you, but still, that's just sick, man."

I really loved his surfer dude talk. I smiled and gazed into his eyes. I was pretty sure we were just about to kiss before the olive skinned nurse ushered Percy out, explaining that visiting hours were over. He waved goodbye and I gave a three fingered wave and blew him a kiss.

After all the shit that happened the past few days, I think I got the best sleep I ever did that night.

A/N: I wanted to leave another cliff hanger, but I didn't know where to put it. Like, Rachel comes back with at gun and tries to shoot Annabeth again? That would make no sense. Before you ask, I am not big on bringing back already deceased characters. So it's bye-bye Rachel. Plus, now that we're down a character, I can add in a new one! I didn't want to put everyone in, which would be too much going on. So, next chapter by the 21st. I love you all. Rate, review and follow! Don't forget to favorite. 3